1. Field of the Disclosed Embodiments
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing a direct linkage between a mechanism used to electronically configure a system and physical product identification labeling.
2. Related Art
All manner of computing devices and image forming devices (“electronic devices”) are fielded for use by individual customers and end users. In order for manufacturers to efficiently produce, sell and deliver these electronic devices, the operating systems housed in, or associated with, the electronic devices are often generically configured with baseline capabilities and standard sets of operating characteristics when the electronic devices are produced for and delivered to the customers or end users.
The customers and end users often have particular, sometimes proprietary or market competitive, operating requirements for the electronic devices that they procure for their use, or use within their facilities. The customers or end users may specify certain capabilities or sets of operating characteristics that they want included in their electronic devices according to their particular operating requirements.
The customer and end user specified capabilities or sets of operating characteristics are often converted to device operating instructions by the electronic device manufacturers, but may not be included in the electronic devices, as shipped, for any of a number of reasons, including security or any of the other reasons mentioned above. Initial installations, and routine updates, of customer or end user specific operating characteristics and capabilities, therefore, need to be performed.
It is also important to maintain some inventory and/or configuration control over the electronic devices for the customers and end users, and the manufacturers and suppliers alike. It can be advantageous to be able to readily recognize or identify that a particular update has been installed.
With the broadening spectrum of individual electronic devices being employed for commercial and personal use, the traditional models of customer support have evolved well beyond deploying manufacturers' customer service personnel to perform verifiable system updates. Installations and updates of electronic device operating characteristics are often delivered to individual customers or end users as sets of instructions or data recorded on some form of electronically writable/readable digital data storage media.
The routine use of electronically writable/readable digital data storage media carries with it certain disadvantages. Among these disadvantages is that configuration control can get out of hand, for example, in organizations with large numbers of electronic devices and different versions of electronically writable/readable digital data storage media carrying different versions of operating characteristics for the electronic devices. This may be particularly the case in instances where there may be (1) no readily identifiable means is provided by which to confirm which particular version of operating characteristics are present on a particular electronic device or (2) some identification of the electronically writable/readable digital data storage media bearing update is provided separately from, and only loosely associated with, the electronically writable/readable digital data storage media. There may be no simple manner by which to verify that a particular operating characteristic install or update has been accomplished without turning the electronic device on, which may be undesirable in any number of scenarios for simply verifying a set of electronic device operating characteristics. This scenario may also produce difficulties for customer companies, for example, when a need arises for manufacturers' customer service personnel to troubleshoot difficulties with particular electronic devices without knowing which version of a software package the customer service personnel should bring to assist in the troubleshooting.
Separately, manufacturers and their authorized suppliers may realize significant separate revenue streams from post-sale support of the electronic devices that they manufacture or supply. This revenue stream is being increasingly affected by the intrusion into the marketplace of companies providing copies of, or otherwise counterfeit, support products of all types, including electronic writable/readable digital data storage media with putatively upgraded software components for a particular electronic device. To address the use of these “grey” market products, many electronic device manufacturers are incorporating increasingly sophisticated physical and/or electronically data-based compatibility and security schemes in the electronic devices and the replacement and support products associated with those devices. Reputable, authorized, secure and/or compatible electronic writable/readable digital data storage media supplied by the manufacturers may be “coded” in a manner that may be difficult to clone, thereby aiding efforts to curtail the use of grey market components. Features may be added to effect particular physical compatibility, or otherwise necessary compatibility information may be included in the stored electronic data that the customer-owned or customer-controlled devices must read from electronically writable/readable digital data storage media to cause the electronic devices to continue to operate properly once the initial installations or subsequent updates to their operating characteristics are effected. In this manner, the electronic writable/readable digital data storage media can be used to address issues of fraud and security with regard to the electronic devices themselves. Specifically, the electronic writable/readable digital data storage media provides a vehicle by which to provide its own verifiable compatibility confirmation scheme to the electronic device in an attempt to ensure that only an electronic device manufacturer's proprietary, authorized, secure and/or compatible operating characteristic update information rather than a copy or counterfeit update is implemented.